Bible in 90 Days
21 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
22 “Son of man, what is that proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and all visions fail?’
23 “Tell them, therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will make this proverb cease, and they shall no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.”’ But say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.
24 “For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the House of Israel.
25 “For I am the LORD. I will speak, and that thing that I shall speak shall come to pass. It shall no longer be delayed. For in your days, O rebellious House, I will say the thing and will perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’”
26 Again, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
27 “Son of man, behold. Those of the House of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees, is for many days in the future; and he prophesies of the times that are far off.’
28 “Therefore, say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “All My Words shall no longer be delayed. But that thing which I have spoken shall be done,” says the Lord GOD.’”
13 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy. And say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, ‘Hear the Word of the LORD!’”
3 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
4 “O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the waste places.
5 “You have not risen up in the gaps or made up the hedge for the House of Israel, to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD.
6 “They have seen vanity, and lying divination, saying, ‘The LORD says it!’ and the LORD has not sent them. And they hoped that their words would be confirmed.
7 “Have you not seen an empty vision? And have you not spoken a lying divination? You say, ‘The LORD says it!’ even though I have not spoken.”
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have spoken vanity and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,” says the Lord GOD.
9 “And My Hand shall be upon the prophets who see vanity, and divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor shall they be written in the record of the House of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
10 “And therefore, because they have deceived My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ and there was no peace—and one builds up a wall and behold, the others daub it with untempered mortar—
11 “say to those who daub it with untempered mortar that it shall fall. There shall come a great shower; and I will send hailstones which shall cause it to fall. And a stormy wind shall break it.
12 “Lo, after the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, ‘Where is the daubing with which you have daubed it?’”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My wrath, and a great shower shall be in My anger and hailstones in indignation, to consume it.
14 “So I will destroy the wall that you have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered. And it shall fall; and you shall be consumed in its midst. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
15 “Thus I will accomplish My wrath upon the wall, and upon those who have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor its daubers
16 ‘(to wit, the prophets of Israel, who prophesy upon Jerusalem and see visions of peace for it, and there is no peace),’ says the Lord GOD.
17 “Likewise, you son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own heart. And Prophesy against them, and say,
18 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew pillows into joints and make veils for the heads of people of every stature, to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people? And will you give life to the souls who come to you?
19 “And will you defame Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread—to slay the souls of those who should not die, and to give life to the souls who should not live—by lying to My people who hear your lies?”’”
20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against your pillows with which you hunt the souls, to make them flee. And I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that you hunt to make them flee.
21 “Also, I will tear your veils and deliver My people out of your hand. And they shall no longer be in your hands, to be hunted. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
22 “Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad (whom I have not made sad) and strengthened the hands of the wicked by promising him life, so that he would not return from his wicked way.
23 “Therefore, you shall see no more vanity or divine divinations. For I will deliver My people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.”
14 Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.
2 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be required to consult them?
4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Every man of the House of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and comes to the Prophet! I, the LORD, will answer who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,
5 so that I may take the House of Israel by their own heart, because they have all departed from Me through their idols.”’
6 “Therefore say to the House of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Return, and withdraw yourselves; and turn your faces from your idols; and turn your faces from all your abominations.
7 “For every one of the House of Israel, or the stranger who sojourns in Israel, who departs from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and comes to a Prophet to inquire of him about Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.
8 “And I will set My Face against that man and will make him an example and a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people. And you shall know that I am the LORD.
9 “And if the Prophet is persuaded to speak a thing, I the LORD have persuaded that Prophet. And I will stretch out My Hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people of Israel.
10 “And they shall bear their punishment. The punishment of the Prophet shall be the same as the punishment of him who inquires,
11 “so that the House of Israel may no longer go astray from Me or be polluted anymore with all their transgressions, and that they may be my people and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD.’”
12 The Word of the Lord GOD came to me again, saying:
13 “Son of man, when the land sins against Me by committing a trespass, then I will stretch out My Hand upon it and will break the staff of its bread and will send famine upon it. And I will cut off man and beast from it.
14 “Even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were among them, they could only deliver their own souls by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.
15 “If I bring evil beasts into the land and they plunder it, so that it is desolate, so that no one may pass through because of beasts,
16 “even if these three men were in its midst, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall save neither sons nor daughters. They alone shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword upon this land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,
18 “though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves shall be delivered.
19 Or if I send a pestilence into this land, and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it,
20 with Noah, Daniel and Job in the midst of it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they shall deliver neither son nor daughter: they shall only deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”
21 For thus says the Lord GOD: “How much more when I send My four severe judgments upon Jerusalem—the sword, and famine, and the evil beast, and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it?
22 “Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant of those who shall be carried away, sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their ways and their enterprises. And you shall be comforted concerning the misery that I have brought upon Jerusalem, concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23 “And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their enterprises. And you shall know that I have not done all that I have done in it without cause,” says the Lord GOD.
15 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, how is the wood from the vine above all wood — the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 “Shall wood be taken from it do any work? Or will men take a pin from it to hang a vessel on?
4 “Behold, it is cast into the fire to be consumed. The fire consumes both ends of it, and the middle of it is burnt. Is it useful for any work?
5 “Behold, when it was whole, it was not useful for any work; how much less shall it be useful for any work when the fire has consumed it, and it is burnt?”
6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire to be consumed, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 “And I will set My Face against them. They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall consume them. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My Face against them,
8 “and I make the land waste, because they have greatly offended,” says the Lord GOD.
16 Again, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 “and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: “Your origin and your relatives are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.
4 “And at your nativity, when you were born, your navel was not cut. You were not washed in water, to soften yourself. You were neither salted with salt nor swaddled in cloths.
5 “No eye pitied you, to do any of these for you, to have compassion upon you. But you were cast out in the open field, for you were loathed on the day that you were born.
6 “And when I passed by you, I saw you trampled, in your own blood. And I said to you when you were in your blood, ‘You shall live.’ Even when you were in your blood, I said to you, ‘You shall live.’
7 “I have caused you to multiply, as the bud of the field, and you have increased and grown greatly. You have entered with excellent ornamentation, your breasts fashioned, and your hair grown. Whereas, before you were naked and bare.
8 “Now when I passed by you and looked upon you, behold, your time was as the time of love. And I spread My Wings over you and covered your filthiness. Yea, I swore to you, and entered into a Covenant with you,” says the Lord GOD, “and you became Mine.
9 “Then I washed you with water. Yea, I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 “I clothed you also with embroidered work and shod you with badgers’ skin. And I wrapped you with fine linen, and I covered you with silk.
11 “I also decorated you with ornaments. And I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck.
12 “And I put a frontlet upon your face, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.
13 “Thus were you adorned with gold and silver. And your clothing was of fine linen and silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. And you were very beautiful. And you grew up into a kingdom.
14 “And your name was spread among the heathen because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My beauty which I had set upon you,” says the Lord GOD.
15 “But you trusted in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your fame, and have poured out your fornications on everyone who passed by and was willing.
16 “And you took your garments and decorated your high places with diverse colors and played the harlot upon them. Such things should not come about or be done.
17 “You have also taken your fair jewels from My gold and from My silver which I had given you, and made images of men for yourself, and committed whoredom with them,
18 “and taken your embroidered garments and covered them. And you have set My oil and My perfume before them.
19 “Also, My food that I gave you (fine flour, oil and honey, with which I fed you), it so happens that you have also set it before them for a sweet savor,” says the Lord GOD.
20 “Moreover, you have taken your sons and your daughters whom you have borne to Me, and you have sacrificed these to them, to be devoured. Is your whoredom such a small matter
21 “that you have killed My children, and delivered them up to them by causing them to pass through fire?
22 “And in all your abominations and whoredoms, you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and trampled in your blood.
23 “And after all your wickedness (‘Woe! Woe to you!’ says the Lord GOD)
24 “You have also built for yourself a high place and have made yourself a high place in every street.
25 “You have built your high place at every corner of the way and have made your beauty abhorrent. You have opened your feet to everyone who passed by and multiplied your whoredom.
26 “You have also committed fornication with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and have increased your whoredom, to provoke Me.
27 “Therefore, behold, I have stretched out My Hand over you and diminished your portion, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your wicked ways.
28 “You have also played the whore with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable. Yea, you have played the harlot with them and still could not be satisfied.
29 “Moreover, you have multiplied your fornication, from the land of Canaan to Chaldea, and still you were not satisfied with that.
30 “How weak your heart is,” says the Lord GOD, “seeing you do all these things—the work of a presumptuous, whorish woman—
31 “in that you build your high place on the corner of every road, and make your high place on every street, and have not been as a harlot who scorns wages,
32 “but as a wife who plays the harlot, taking others for her husband.
33 “They give gifts to all whores, but you give gifts to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from every direction for your fornication.
34 “And you are the opposite of other women in your fornications, in that no one follows after your sort of harlotry. For you give a wage, and no wage is given to you. Therefore, you are the opposite.”
35 ‘Therefore, O harlot, hear the Word of the LORD.
36 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your shame was poured out and your filthiness discovered through your fornications with your lovers, and with all the idols of your abominations, by the blood of your children which you offered to them,
37 “behold, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those whom you have loved together with all those whom you have hated. I will gather them against you, all around you, and will uncover your filthiness to them, so that they may see all your filthiness.
38 “And I will judge you in the same way as those who are harlots, and of those who shed blood. And I will give you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
39 “I will also give you into their hands. And they shall destroy your high place and shall break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes and shall take your fair jewels and leave you naked and bare.
40 “They shall also bring up an assembly against you. And they shall stone you with stones and thrust you through with their swords.
41 “And they shall burn up your houses with fire and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. And I will cause you to cease playing the harlot. And you shall make no more payments.
42 “So will I make My wrath rest toward you. And My jealousy shall depart from you. And I will cease, and no longer be angry.
43 “Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have provoked Me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have also brought your way upon your head,” says the Lord GOD, “And you shall not commit this lewdness in addition to all your other abominations.
44 “Behold, all who use proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
45 “You are your mother’s daughter, who has cast off her husband and her children. And you are the sister of your sisters who forsook their husbands and their children. Your mother is a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 “And your elder sister is Samaria, and her daughters who dwell on your left. And your younger sister who dwells on your right is Sodom and her daughters.
47 “Yet, you have not merely walked in their ways or followed after their abominations; but as if that were too little, you have been corrupted more than they in all your ways.
48 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “Sodom, your sister, has not done (she or her daughters) as you and your daughters have done.
49 “Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister, Sodom: pride. Fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her, and in her daughters. Nor did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 “But they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore, I took them away as it pleased Me.
51 “Nor has Samaria committed half of your sins. But you have exceeded them in your abominations and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have done.
52 “Therefore, you, who have judged your sisters, bear shame for your own sins, in that you have committed more abominable ones than they (who are more righteous than you are). Therefore, you also should be disgraced, and bear your shame, seeing that you have judged your sisters.
53 “Therefore I will bring back their captives, with the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and with the captives of Samaria and her daughters, the captives of your captives, in the midst of them,
54 “so that you may bear your own shame and may be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them.
55 “And your sister, Sodom, and her daughters, shall return to their former state. Samaria, also, and her daughters, shall return to their former state, when you and your daughters shall return to your former state.
56 “For your sister, Sodom, was not mentioned by you in the days of your pride,
57 “before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, and of all the daughters of the Philistines all around her, who despise you in all directions.
58 “You have borne your wickedness and your abomination,” says the LORD.
59 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “I might even deal with you as you have done when you despised the oath in breaking the Covenant.
60 “Nevertheless, I will remember My Covenant with you in the days of your youth. And I will confirm an everlasting Covenant with you.
61 “Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, both elder and younger. And I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.
62 “And I will establish My Covenant with you. And you shall know that I am the LORD,
63 “so that you may remember and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’”
17 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, put forth a parable and speak a proverb to the House of Israel,
3 “and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The great eagle, with great wings, long wings, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar,
4 “and broke off the top of his twig and carried it into the land of trade and set it in a city of merchants.
5 “He also took from the seed of the land and planted it in fruitful ground. He placed it by great waters and set it as a willow tree.
6 “And it budded up and was like a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward it, and its roots were under it. So it became a vine, and it brought forth branches and shot forth buds.
7 “There was also another great eagle, with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine turned her roots toward it and spread forth her branches toward it, so that she might water it near the trenches of her planting.
8 “It was planted in a good soil by great waters, so that it would bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and be an excellent vine.”’
9 “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots and destroy its fruit and cause them to dry up? All the leaves of her bud shall wither without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.
10 “Behold, it was planted, but shall it prosper? Shall it not dry up and wither? When the East wind shall touch it, it shall wither in the trenches where it grew.”’”
11 Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
12 “Now say to this rebellious House, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babel has come to Jerusalem, and has taken its king and its princes and led them with him to Babel,
13 ‘and has taken the king’s seed and made a covenant with him and has taken an oath from him. He has also taken the princes of the land,
14 ‘so that the kingdom might be in subjection, and not lift itself up, keeping their covenant so that it might stand.
15 ‘But he rebelled against him and sent his ambassadors into Egypt, so that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Or shall he break the covenant and still be delivered?
16 ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, with him he shall die in the midst of Babel.
17 ‘Nor shall Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great multitude of people, maintain him in the war when they have cast up siege mounds and built ramparts to destroy many people.
18 ‘For he has despised the oath and broken the covenant (yet, lo, he had given his hand). Because he has done all these things, he shall not escape.’”
19 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, I will surely bring My oath that he has despised, and My Covenant that he has broken, upon his own head.
20 “And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My net. And I will bring him to Babel and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has committed against Me.
21 “And all who flee from him, with all his army, shall fall by the sword. And those who remain shall be scattered toward all the winds. And you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it.”
22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also take off the top of this high cedar, and will set it out. And I will cut off the top of its tender plant; and I will plant it upon a high and great mountain.
23 “On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it. And it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be an excellent cedar. And all birds shall remain under it. Every bird shall dwell in the shadow of its branches.
24 “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, that I have dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken it and have done it.”
18 The Word of the LORD came to me again, saying:
2 “What do you mean when you speak this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?’
3 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 “Behold, all souls are Mine. Both the soul of the father, and also the soul of the son, are Mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.
5 “But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,
6 “has not eaten upon the mountains or lifted up his eyes to the idols of the House of Israel or defiled his neighbor’s wife or approached a menstruous woman,
7 “or oppressed anyone; if he has restored the pledge to his debtor, has robbed no one by violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment,
8 “has not lent with usury or taken any increase, has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and has executed true judgment between man and man,
9 “and has walked in My Statutes, and has kept My Judgments, to deal truly, he is just. He shall surely live,” says the Lord GOD.
10 “If he begets a son who is a thief or a shedder of blood, if he does any of these things
11 “(even if he does not do all these things, but still has): eaten upon the mountains or defiled his neighbor’s wife,
12 “has oppressed the poor and needy or has robbed by violence or has not restored the pledge or has lifted up his eyes to idols or has committed abomination,
13 “has lent with usury or taken increase, shall he live? He shall not live, seeing he has done all these abominations. He shall die the death. His blood shall be upon himself.
14 “But if he begets a son who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and fears but doesn’t do the same,
15 “so that he has not eaten upon the mountains or lifted up his eyes to the idols of the House of Israel or defiled his neighbor’s wife
16 “or oppressed anyone or withheld the pledge or robbed by violence; but has given his bread to the hungry, has covered the naked with a garment,
17 “has not withdrawn his hand from the afflicted or received usury or increase but has executed My Judgments and walked in My Statutes, he shall not die in the iniquity of his father. He shall surely live.
18 “His father, because he cruelly oppressed and robbed his brother by violence, and has not done good among his people, lo, he dies in his iniquity.
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father?’ —because the son has executed judgment and justice and has kept all My Statutes and done them. He shall surely live.
20 “The same soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if the wicked will turn away from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all My Statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live and shall not die.
22 “All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned to him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live.
23 “Have I any desire that the wicked should die,” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should live, if he returns from his ways?
24 “But if the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, doing according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned. In his transgression that he has committed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not equal.’ Hear now, O House of Israel! Is it not My way which is equal, and your ways unequal?
26 “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for the same. He shall die for his iniquity that he has done.
27 “Again, when the wicked turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
28 “Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live and shall not die.
29 “Still, the House of Israel says, ‘The way of the LORD is not equal.’ O House of Israel! Is it not My way which is equal, and your ways unequal?
30 “Therefore, I will judge you, O House of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your destruction.
31 “Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O House of Israel?
32 “For I do not desire the death of him who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, therefore, and live!”
19 “Also, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 “and say, ‘Why did your mother, a lioness, lay down among the lions? She nourished her young ones among the lion’s whelps.
3 ‘And she brought up one of her whelps, and it became a lion. It learned to catch the prey, and it devoured men.
4 ‘The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their nets, and they brought him to the land of Egypt in chains.
5 ‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps and made him a lion.
6 ‘which went among the lions, and became a lion, and learned to catch prey. He devoured men,
7 ‘and he knew their widows, and he destroyed their cities, and the land was wasted, and all that was in it, by the noise of his roaring.
8 ‘Then the nations set against him on every side of the countries and laid their nets for him. So, he was taken in their pit.
9 ‘And they put him in prison, in chains, and brought him to the king of Babel. They put him in a stronghold, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 ‘Your mother is like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. She brought forth fruit and branches by the abundant waters,
11 ‘and she had strong rods for the scepters of those who bear rule. And her stature was exalted among the branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
12 ‘But she was plucked up in wrath. She was cast down to the ground, and the East wind dried up her fruit. Her branches were broken and withered. The fire consumed the rod of her strength.
13 ‘And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.
14 ‘And fire has gone out of a rod of her branches, which has devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong rod, no ruling scepter.’” This is a lamentation and shall be a lamentation.
20 And in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD and sat before me.
2 Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am asked, I will not answer you.”’
4 “Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge? Make them understand the abominations of their fathers,
5 “and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up My Hand to the seed of the House of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My Hand to them, and said, ‘I am the LORD your God,’
6 “on the day that I lifted up My Hand to them, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt, into a land that I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is pleasant among all lands,
7 “I, then, said to them, ‘Let every man cast away the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
8 “But they rebelled against Me, and would not hear Me. No one cast away the abominations of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I thought to pour out My indignation upon them, to accomplish My wrath against them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 “But I acted for the sake of My Name, so that it would not be profaned before the heathen, among whom they were and in whose sight I made Myself known to them in bringing them forth from the land of Egypt.
10 “Now, I carried them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 “And I gave them My Statutes and declared My Judgments to them. Which, if a man does, he shall live in them.
12 “Moreover, I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, so that they might know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies them.
13 “But the House of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My Statutes. And they cast away My Judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. And they have greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought to pour out My indignation upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 “But I acted for the sake of My Name, so that it would not be profaned before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 “Yet, nevertheless, I lifted up My Hand to them in the wilderness, so that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which was pleasant above all lands,
16 “because they cast away My Judgments and did not walk in My Statutes, but have profaned My Sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols.
17 “Nevertheless, My eye spared them, so that I would not destroy them, nor would I consume them in the wilderness.
18 “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the ordinances of your fathers or observe their manners or defile yourselves with their idols.
19 ‘I am the LORD your God. Walk in My Statutes, and keep My Judgments, and do them,
20 ‘and sanctify My Sabbaths. And they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
21 “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My Statutes or keep My Judgments, to do them (which, if a man does, he shall live in them), but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought to pour out My indignation upon them, to accomplish My wrath against them in the wilderness.
22 “Nevertheless, I withdrew My Hand for My Name’s sake, so that it would not be profaned before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 “Still, I lifted up My Hand to them in the wilderness, so that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries,
24 “because they had not executed My Judgments but had cast away My Statutes and had polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
25 “Therefore, I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments in which they could not live.
26 “And I pronounced them unclean in their own gifts, in that they caused all that first opened the womb to pass through the fire, so that I might destroy them, so that they might know that I am the LORD.”’
27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the House of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, grievously transgressing against Me.
28 “For when I had brought them into the land for which I lifted up My Hand to give to them, then they saw every high hill and all the thick trees. And they offered their sacrifices there, and they presented their offering of provocation there. They also made their sweet savor there and poured out there their Drink Offerings.
29 “Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ And its name is called ‘Bamah’ to this day.”’
30 “Therefore, say to the House of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD God: “Are you not defiled after the manner of your fathers? And do you not commit whoredom after their abominations?
31 “For when you offer your gifts, and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, until this day. Shall I answer you when I am asked, O House of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will not answer you when I am asked.
32 “Nor shall that which comes into your mind be done. For you say, ‘We will be as the heathen, and as the families of the countries, and serve wood and stone.’
33 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will surely rule you with a mighty Hand, and with an outstretched Arm, and with wrath poured out.
34 “And will bring you from the people and will gather you out of the countries to which you are scattered, with a mighty Hand and with an outstretched Arm, and with wrath poured out.
35 “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people. And I will plead with you there, face to face.
36 “As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you,” says the Lord GOD.
37 “And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and will bring you into the bond of the Covenant.
38 “And I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they dwell. And they shall not enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD.”
39 “As for you, O House of Israel,” thus says the Lord GOD: “Go, and everyone serve his idol, seeing that you will not obey Me. And no longer profane My Holy Name with your gifts, and with your idols.
40 “For there, on My Holy Mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “all the House of Israel, and all in the land, shall serve Me. There I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
41 “I will accept your sweet savor, when I bring you from the people and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, so that I may be sanctified in you before the heathen.
42 “And you shall know that I am the LORD when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the land for which I lifted up My Hand to give to your fathers.
43 “And there you shall remember your ways, and all your works in which you have been defiled. And you shall judge yourselves worthy to be cut off, for all your evils that you have committed.
44 “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My Name’s sake and not after your wicked ways or according to your corrupt works, O you House of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.”’”
45 Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
46 “Son of man, set your face toward the way of Teman, and drop your Word toward the South, and prophesy toward the forest of the field of the South,
47 “and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the Word of the LORD: “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will kindle a fire in you. And it shall devour all the green wood in you, and all the dry wood. The continual flame shall not be quenched. And every face from the South to the North shall be burnt in it.
48 ‘And all flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it. It shall not be quenched.”’” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they say of me, ‘Does not he speak parables?’”
21 The Word of the LORD came to me again, saying:
2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your Word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
3 “and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I come against you, and will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you.
4 “Seeing then that I will cut off the righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh, from the South to the North,
5 “so that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath and it shall not return anymore.
6 “Sigh, therefore, you son of man, as in the crushing of loins, and sigh bitterly before them.
7 “And if they say to you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ Then answer, ‘Because of the news. For it comes, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be weak, and all minds shall faint, and all knees shall fall away, as water. Behold, it comes and shall be done,’ says the Lord GOD.”
8 Again, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ Say, “A sword, a sword, both sharp and polished.
10 “It is sharpened to make a great slaughter. It is polished so that it may glisten. How shall we rejoice? It despises the rod of My son, as all other trees.
11 “And it has been given to be polished, so that it may be handled. This sword is sharp, and is polished, so that it may be given into the hand of the slayer.
12 “Cry and howl, son of man! For this shall come to My people. It shall come to all the princes of Israel. The terrors of the sword shall be upon My people. Strike, therefore, upon your thigh.
13 “For it is a trial. And what shall this be if the sword despises even the rod? It shall be no more,” says the Lord GOD.
14 “You, therefore, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together, and let the sword be doubled. Let the sword, which has killed, return a third time. It is the sword of the great slaughter, entering into their private chambers.
15 “I have brought the fear of the sword into all their gates, to make their heart faint, and to multiply their ruins. Ah, it is made bright! It is dressed for a slaughter.
16 Sharpen yourselves in the same direction! Go to the right or to the left, wherever your face is turned.
17 I will also strike My Hands together and cause My wrath to cease. I, the LORD, have said it.”
18 The Word of the LORD came to me again, saying:
19 “Also, you son of man, appoint yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babel to come. Both of them shall come out of the same land. And make a map at the head of the way of the city,
20 “so that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the strong.”
21 And the king of Babel stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, consulting by divination, and made his arrows swift. He consulted with idols and looked at the liver.
22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains to open their mouths in the slaughter, and to lift up their voices with shouting, to lay engines of war against the gates, to cast a siege mound, and to build a fortress.
23 And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, for the oaths made to them. But he will call their iniquity to remembrance, to the intent that they would be taken.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have made your iniquity be remembered in discovering your rebellion, so that in all your works your sins might appear, because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 “And you, prince of Israel, polluted, wicked, whose day has come in the iniquity of the end,
26 “thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Take away the turban and take off the crown. This shall no longer be the same. I will exalt the humble and will abase him who is high.
27 “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it! And it shall no longer be until He comes Whose right it is. And I will give it Him.’
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the children of Ammon and to their blasphemy:’ and say, “The sword! The sword is drawn forth, polished for the slaughter, to consume, because of the lightning,
29 “while they saw empty visions for you, and prophesied a lie to you, to bring you upon the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come in the iniquity of the end.
30 “Shall I cause it to return into its sheath? I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your habitation.
31 “And I will pour out My indignation upon you and will blow against you in the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hand of beastly men, skillful to destroy.
32 “You shall be in the fire, to be devoured. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be remembered no more.” For I, the LORD, have spoken it.’”
22 Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2 “Now, you son of man, will you judge? Will you judge this bloody city? Will you show her all her abominations?
3 “Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The city sheds blood in the midst of herself, so that her time may come, and makes idols near herself, to pollute herself.
4 “You have offended in your blood, so that you have shed, and have polluted yourself in your idols which you have made. And you have caused your days to draw near and have come to your term. Therefore, I have made you a reproach to the heathen, and a mockery to all countries.
5 “Those who are near and those who are far from you shall mock you, vile in name and great in affliction.
6 “Behold the princes of Israel. Each has used his power to shed blood.
7 “In you they have despised father and mother. In the midst of you they have oppressed the stranger. In you they have troubled the fatherless and the widow.
8 “You have despised My holy things and have polluted My Sabbaths.
9 “In you are men who carry tales to shed blood. In you are those who eat upon the mountains. In your midst they commit abomination.
10 “In you they have discovered their fathers’ shame. In you have they defiled her who was polluted in her impurity.
11 “And everyone has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, and everyone has wickedly defiled his daughter-in-law, and in you has every man forced his own sister, his father’s daughter.
12 “In you they have taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and the increase, and you have defrauded your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord GOD.
13 “Behold, therefore, I have stricken My Hands at your covetousness that you have used, and upon the blood which has been in your midst.
14 “Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall have to do with you? I, the LORD, have spoken it and will do it.
15 “And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will cause your filthiness to cease from you.
16 “And you shall take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the heathen. And you shall know that I am the LORD.”’”
17 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18 “Son of man, the House of Israel is to me as dross. All of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace. They are the dross of silver.”
19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you are all like dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you in the midst of Jerusalem.
20 “As they gather silver and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and will put you there and melt you.
21 “I will gather you, I say, and blow the fire of My wrath upon you. And you shall be melted in its midst.
22 “As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst. And you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.”
23 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are the land that is unclean, not rained upon on the day of wrath.’
25 “A conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion, ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They have taken the riches and precious things. They have made her many widows in her midst.
26 “Her priests have broken My Law and have defiled My holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane or discerned between the unclean and the clean. They have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 “Her princes in her midst are like wolves, ravening the prey to shed blood, to destroy souls for their own unjust gain.
28 “And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanities, and divining lies to them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD had not spoken.
29 “The people of the land have violently oppressed by plundering and robbing and have violently mistreated the poor and the needy. Yea, they have wrongfully oppressed the stranger.
30 “And I sought for a man among them who would make up the hedge and stand in the gap before Me, for the land, so that I would not destroy it. But I found none.
31 “Therefore, I have poured out My indignation upon them, and consumed them with the fire of My wrath. I have rendered their own ways upon their heads,” says the Lord GOD.
23 The Word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.
3 “And they committed fornication in Egypt. They committed fornication in their youth. There, their breasts were pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
4 “And their names were Oholah (the elder) and Oholibah, her sister. And they were Mine. And they bore sons and daughters. These were their names: Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem, Oholibah.
5 “And Oholah played the harlot when she was Mine. And she was set on fire with her lovers, with the Assyrians, her neighbors,
6 “who were clothed with blue silk, captains and princes. They were all pleasant young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
7 “Thus she committed her whoredom with them, with all of the chosen men of Assyria and with all after whom she lusted, defiling herself with all their idols.
8 “Nor has she left her fornications from the Egyptians. For in her youth, they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity and poured their whoredom upon her.
9 “Therefore, I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
10 “They uncovered her shame. They took away her sons and her daughters and killed her with the sword. And she became infamous among women, for they had executed judgment upon her.
11 “And when her sister Oholibah saw this, she corrupted herself with lust more than she, and with her fornications more than her sister’s fornications.
12 “She lusted after the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and princes clothed with diverse suits, horsemen riding upon horses. They were all pleasant young men.
13 “Then I saw that she was defiled, that they were both in the same way,
14 “and that she increased her fornications. For when she saw men painted upon the wall—the images of the Chaldeans painted with vermilion
15 “and girded with girdles upon their loins, and with dyed attire upon their heads (all looking like princes, after the manner of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity) —
16 “as soon, I say, as she saw them, she lusted after them, and sent messengers to them, into Chaldea.
17 “Now, when the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, they defiled her with their fornication. And she was polluted with them. And her lust departed from them.
18 “So she discovered her fornication and disclosed her shame. Then My Heart forsook her, just as My Heart had forsaken her sister.
19 “Still, she increased her whoredom more and called to remembrance the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 “For she lusted after their servants whose members are as the members of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 “You call to remembrance the wickedness of your youth, when your teats were bruised by the Egyptians. Therefore, the paps of your youth are thus.”
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your heart has departed. And I will bring them against you from every direction—
23 “the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them. They were all pleasant young men, captains and princes. All of them were valiant and renowned, riding upon horses.
24 “Even they shall come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with a multitude of people, who shall set against you buckler and shield and helmet, all around. And I will leave the punishment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.
25 “And I will lay My indignation upon you, and they shall deal cruelly with you. They shall cut off your nose and your ears. And your remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall carry away your sons and your daughters. And the rest of you shall be devoured by the fire.
26 “They shall also strip you out of your clothes and take away your fair jewels.
27 “Thus I will make your wickedness cease from you, and your fornication, out of the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.”
28 For thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom your heart has departed.
29 “And they shall handle you hatefully, and shall take away all your property, and shall leave you naked and bare. And the shame of your fornications shall be uncovered, both your wickedness and your whoredom.
30 “I will do these things to you because you have gone whoring after the heathen, because you have been defiled with their idols.
31 “You have walked in the way of your sister. Therefore, I will put her cup into your hand.”
32 Thus says the Lord GOD: “You shall drink of your sister’s cup, deep and large. You shall be laughed to scorn and had in derision, because it contains much.
33 “You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of destruction and desolation, with the cup of your sister, Samaria.
34 “You shall drink it and wring it out, and you shall break its shards and tear your own breasts, for I have spoken it,” says the Lord GOD.
35 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have forgotten Me, and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall also bear your wickedness and your whoredom.”
36 Moreover, the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? And will you declare their abominations to them?
37 “For they have played the whores, and blood is on their hands. And they have committed adultery with their idols and have also caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to be its food.
38 “Moreover, they have done this to Me: They have defiled My Sanctuary and have profaned My Sabbaths on the same day.
39 “For after they had slain their children to their idols, they came into My Sanctuary on the same day to defile it. And lo, thus have they done in the midst of My House.
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